


Out of Place

by enigmaticblue



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Gen, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-24
Updated: 2012-05-24
Packaged: 2017-11-05 22:14:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/411575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enigmaticblue/pseuds/enigmaticblue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jim has no idea how Blair talks him into these things.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Out of Place

**Author's Note:**

> Written for sentinel_thurs challenge #437, "place".

Jim glanced at his watch for the fifth time in fifteen minutes, and he would swear that time was actually marching backwards. The half-full glass of chardonnay in his hand had long since reached room temperature, and the condensation had dried.

 

Maybe his watch was broken; that would explain why it felt that he’d been here for days, and not the two hours his watch showed.

 

“It’ll be fun,” Jim muttered, echoing the words Blair had used to secure his presence. “There will be plenty of babes, Jim. _Right_.”

 

Sandburg had promised him food, alcohol, and women. The exhibition opening—which Blair had helped set up—included some finds made by one of his undergraduate mentors, and he’d asked Jim to attend since his other date had fallen through.

 

Jim probably could have handled an art gallery, or something similar, but potsherds were pretty much meaningless to him.

 

Plus, the wine was mediocre at best, and most of the food smelled just a little _off_ to his Sentinel’s nose, even though everybody else present appeared to be enjoying it.

 

So, no wine, no food, and the women—well, they were all a good decade younger, and just looking at them made Jim feel as ancient as those clay pots on display.

 

And honestly, none of that would have bothered Jim in the slightest if Sandburg hadn’t been surrounded by people—all speaking anthropologist—as soon as they’d walked in the door.

 

Jim didn’t begrudge Sandburg his success, but he was having a hard time figuring out why he needed to be there.

 

He should have brought his cell phone; he could have managed to fake an emergency at the station—although Blair probably would have insisted on accompanying him.

 

Jim sighed and mentally acknowledged that he was good and stuck.

 

“Hey, man!” Sandburg materialized in front of him. “Is this awesome, or what?”

 

 _Or what_ , Jim thought sourly, but he managed a smile. “You did great.”

 

Sandburg gave him a knowing look. “You’re bored to tears.”

 

Jim shrugged. “Maybe a little.”

 

“We can leave,” Sandburg offered.

 

“Whenever you’re ready,” Jim said easily. “Enjoy the accolades.”

 

Sandburg grabbed his arm. “Come on, Jim. I have someone I want you to meet. You’re going to love her.”

 

“I won’t have anything to _say_ to her,” Jim protested. “I’m out of place. And every woman here is young enough to be my kid.”

 

“Not all of them.” Sandburg grinned conspiratorially. “Some of them are old enough to be your mother.”

 

Jim rolled his eyes. “My point stands.”

 

“ _Trust_ me,” Sandburg insisted. “She happens to be here with her brother, who is one of the sponsors. She’s rich, stacked, and a black belt in something. Just your type. You two can be out of place together.”

 

Jim sighed and decided not to say that he’d rather be out of place with Sandburg by his side; he didn’t mind so much then.

 

But he smiled when he saw the woman Sandburg wanted him to meet, because he’d known the improbably named Daisy Rogers since he was a kid. Besides, he happened to know that she was not interested in men—although she _was_ tall, blonde, and just as stacked as Sandburg had promised.

 

“Jim!” she said. “I had no idea Blair was talking about you when he mentioned his roommate was here.”

 

He grinned. Jim had always liked Daisy. She was a straight shooter, and considering that she did wilderness survival training for a living—she probably _did_ feel as out of place as Jim. “What did Kevin have to promise to get you here?”

 

She laughed. “All new rappelling gear—for me _and_ my students.”

 

Sandburg was gaping at them. “You guys know each other?”

 

“We grew up together,” Daisy corrected him. “Jimmy here was considered quite the catch in high school. Which dance did we go to together?”

 

“Junior Homecoming,” Jim said immediately. “And we had a really good time.”

 

Daisy slid her arm through Jim’s. “We did. You want to try to replicate it?”

 

Considering they had spent the evening with their friends, sneaking drinks from the flask Jim had purloined from his father, and had ended up at an all-night diner—Jim thought that was the best idea he’d heard all evening.

 

Sandburg’s eyes were huge, and he seemed just a little bit dismayed, so Jim said loyally, “I can’t leave Sandburg high and dry.”

 

“No,” Sandburg said immediately. “You go ahead, catch up. Don’t let me stop you.”

 

Daisy gave Blair a genuine smile. “Thank you, Blair. You’re a lifesaver. When Kevin finds out I ran into Jim, he won’t hold my escape against me—or the new rappelling equipment.”

 

“See you at home, Sandburg,” Jim said, and tried not to feel too guilty—or too relieved—at his escape.

 

“He’s cute,” Daisy said in an undertone as they left.

 

Jim shrugged. “He’s my roommate.”

 

“And?”

 

Jim smiled. “And he’s straight.”

 

“Which means he has no idea why you’d follow him to some boring ass event like this,” Daisy said knowingly.

 

Jim raised an eyebrow. “I like women, too, as you well know.”

 

Daisy’s eyes sparkled with mischief. “I sure hope your technique has improved over the years.”

 

Jim winced, remembering Caroline’s words shortly after his senses had come online. “You want to try me and find out?” he countered.

 

“I’m even less interested in men now than I was back then,” Daisy shot back, but she grinned to soften the words. “Although if I swung your way, I’d take you up on that. My original offer still stands, though.”

 

Jim thought of real food and said fervently, “Oh, God, yes.”

 

~~~~~

 

Blair had no idea how he felt about Jim swaggering off with some buxom beauty, even given how bored Jim had been, and the naked delight on Jim’s face when he’d seen Daisy Rogers.

 

To be honest, he was a little jealous, especially since it was clear that Daisy shared a history with Jim, and apparently had a lot of interests in common, too.

 

He’d thought he could share one of his passions with Jim with the opening of the exhibition, but he’d been mobbed with people wanting his attention as soon as he got inside, and he hadn’t been able to spare a thought for his roommate until a couple of hours had passed.

 

By then, he’d been introduced to Daisy Rogers, who was about the only person in the room with whom Jim would have something in common, and he figured that if he was going to be busy, maybe Jim would be placated with an attractive woman.

 

But that had been before Blair had known they’d shared a past, and apparently a couple of dates. It just figured.

 

“Can I give you a ride home?” Kevin Rogers asked as the guests began to leave and the party wound down.

 

“Huh?”

 

“Well, I know Daisy didn’t leave with my car,” Kevin replied. “Which meant Jim left you high and dry.”

 

Blair winced, realizing how right he was. “Yeah, my car has been acting up, or we probably would have driven separately.”

 

“Jim was probably distracted running into Daisy,” Kevin replied. “They were pretty much inseparable their last two years of high school. Jim saved Daisy from a lot of grief.”

 

Blair frowned. “Grief?”

 

“Yeah, sure,” Kevin said negligently. “They dated on and off.”

 

Blair thought of his own high school career, abbreviated as it was. He was usually a couple of grades ahead, and had a big mouth. Blair had always felt out of place; it was one of the reasons he’d started college at sixteen.

 

“I guess Jim was popular.”

 

“Very popular,” Kevin agreed. “But really nice, you know? He was one of the guys who could have gotten away with shoving geeks like me in a locker, but never did—and didn’t let anybody else do it either.”

 

That jived with the Jim Blair knew, but he still felt strangely bereft. Jim divulged so little of his past, and to suddenly run into people who knew him back in high school—it was startling and strange.

 

Blair accepted the ride home, sitting in the backseat of Kevin’s rented limousine. “Thanks for the ride, man.”

 

“Blair—” Kevin said as Blair got out. “I’m glad Jim found someone like you.”

 

Blair opened his mouth to ask what he meant, but decided discretion was the better part of valor. “Yeah, thanks.”

 

Once he got into the loft, he collapsed on the couch, feeling strangely out of place. He couldn’t hope to compete with people from Jim’s past like Daisy and Kevin—they shared history, had money, and were genuinely nice.

 

And Jim liked them—at least, he liked Daisy. Blair still wondered why Jim liked _him_ at times.

 

He was still sitting in the dark when the door opened.

 

“You okay?” Jim asked as he locked the door behind him.

 

“Just thinking,” Blair replied.

 

“Hard work?”

 

Blair glanced over at Jim as he plopped down next to Blair. “I thought you’d be out all night.”

 

A smile tilted Jim’s lips. “Daisy doesn’t exactly swing my way.”

 

“What—” Blair stopped. Suddenly, what Kevin had said made sense. “Oh. _Oh_.”

 

“Yeah, oh,” Jim replied.

 

Blair swallowed. “And you knew back in high school?”

 

“Well, I knew after our homecoming dance,” Jim said with a grin. “God, she was so brave. When I started to put the moves on her, she came right out and told me she wasn’t interested in guys. I could have ruined her with that information, and she still told me, because she didn’t want my feelings to be hurt when she shut me down.”

 

Blair cleared his throat. “Jim, she _trusted_ you.”

 

Jim shrugged. “We were always pretty good friends.”

 

“No,” Blair protested, irritated that Jim was selling himself short. “Kevin said tonight that you were always the kind of guy who _could_ shove people into lockers but never did, and wouldn’t let anybody else do it either.”

 

Jim frowned. “Why would I let anybody get shoved into a locker?”

 

And that was why Blair loved Jim, because he honestly didn’t get it. He’d keep others’ secrets and he’d look out for the underdog, for anybody who needed help, and he’d do it just because it was the right thing to do.

 

“You wouldn’t,” Blair said. “That’s kind of the point.”

 

“Sorry for leaving you high and dry tonight,” Jim said. “I forgot you didn’t have a ride.”

 

“Kevin drove me back home. It was fine,” Blair replied. “I’m sorry for dragging you there tonight.”

 

“I didn’t mind,” Jim replied. “It was good to catch up with Daisy.”

 

“Being such old friends and all,” Blair replied dryly.

 

“Very old friends,” Jim agreed. There was a long pause, and then Jim added, “You know, I may have kept a secret for Daisy, but she kept one for me, too.”

 

“What’s that?” Blair asked, feeling a rising hope.

 

Jim smiled. “I’m not completely straight.”

 

Blair laughed, feeling as though a weight had been lifted. “Yeah, well, neither am I.”

 

“Then I guess neither of us are out of place,” Jim joked.

 

“No, I guess not,” Blair replied, as Jim slung an arm around Blair’s neck.

 

“Thanks for inviting me tonight,” Jim said.

 

And feeling Jim’s warm bulk next to him, and Jim’s arm pulling him close, Blair could say in all honesty, “It was my pleasure, man.”


End file.
